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Following Motorola winning a possible injunction against Apple mobile products in Germany, Apple has told a German court it is set to lose $2.7 billion if it rules in favor of Motorola regarding a patent case related to an “emailing syncing patent”, according to a report from Bloomberg(via BusinessInsider). Apple has reportedly requested the court to demand Motorola provide $2.7 billion in collateral in the event the judge sides with Motorola. Bloomberg reports:

German courts often require the winning side in a case to post collateral if it wants to enforce a ruling while the other side is appealing. The amount reflects the losses the party is facing when forced to comply with the ruling. If it wins the appeals, it can seek damages and can make use of the collateral held for that.

While we have no information about how exactly Apple has come to that figure, the judge hearing the case apparently doesn’t agree with Apple’s valuation:

“I am not yet entirely sure that amount adequately mirrors the commercial value of this dispute … The technology isn’t a standard and there are alternative ways to provide the same services.”

As for the patent at the center of the case, according toFossPatents it was actually originally filed in 1996 to cover a method of synchronizing settings from a pager across multiple devices through a backend server, functionality Motorola claims is similar to features of Apple’s iCloud service. Apple reportedly refused to defend itself against the patent in question as it relates to iCloud, but could be forced to employ an alternative method of synchronization or remove access to iCloud software in Germany if an injunction is ultimately granted. Another hearing is slated for December 2 in Mannheim.

2 Responses to “Apple says it’s set to lose $2.7 billion if judge sides with Motorola in patent case”

Perhaps Apple needs to learn a little humility. I don't feel sorry for them. Look at how they have attacked Samsung world-wide. If they are infringing on someone else's patents, they should pay. That is exactly what they do to other companies. Apple used to be the little guy fighting the evil giant called Microsoft. And now they have become the evil giant. It is time they get knocked down a few pegs.